DISCLAIMER – Naruto and Naruto Shippuden belongs to Kishimoto alone. Anything resembling this fic is purely coincidence

Past

INNER SAKURA

Thoughts

Jutsu

"I do not wish to treat friendships daintily, but with the roughest courage. When they are real, they are not glass threads or frost-work, but the solidest thing we know." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hours have passed since Sakura met Sasuke at the local cemetary. Sasuke still held his cold personality. In this hour, the newly graduated genins were to be assigned to their respective jonin instructors. Team 8, consisting of Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino, were assigned to a female jonin, Yuhi Kurenai. Yuhi Kurenai was a recently promoted jonin, who was well-known for being an expert in the art of genjutsu. Meanwhile, Team 10, consisting of Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chouji, and Nara Shikamaru, were assigned to Sarutobi Asuma. Aside from the fact that Asuma helped Sasuke on that day, he was well-known not only for his taijutsu abilities, combined with his trench knives, but his bad smoking, something that Team 10 have freely expressed their dislike.

Unfortunately, for the newly created Team 7, their jonin instructor has not even showed up, which was rather unusual, since the other genins have met up with their instructors. Sakura leaned against a table and waited patiently for her jonin instructor, while looking at the clock. Naruto, being his usual hyper self, was pacing around. Naruto was never the patient type, considering his loud personality. Sasuke, however, continued to brood. He showed no interest in having a jonin instructor. It was just like Sasuke said back at the cemetary, he didn't want anyone that will slow him down, in his quest for revenge. As Sakura watched him brooding, she couldn't help but wonder what was going on through his mind.

"Man, he's late," complained Naruto, breaking the silence. Naruto opened the door to the hallway and looked left and right, looking for any signs of their jonin instructor. However, he was only met with nothing but an empty hallway.

"Naruto, just sit down and relax," advised Sakura.

"Why should I?" Naruto continued to complain, "Everyone else got to meet up with their instructor, but not us. Everyone is probably out there doing all the fun stuff by now, and Iruka-sensei already went home!"

"Well, it can't be helped," Sakura shrugged. Then, the sound of a chair being put in place and a door closing caught Sakura's attention. "Naruto, what are you doing?"

Apparently, Naruto stood on a stool and placed a chalkboard eraser at the top of the doorway, closing the door to keep it into position. Sakura realized what Naruto had in mind. "This is what he gets for being late," Naruto snickered.

Sakura could only sigh on Naruto's action. "If you get busted, I'm not bailing you out on this," Sakura warned sternly. BUT, THEN AGAIN, IT MIGHT BE KIND OF FUN!!

"A jonin is not going to fall for a simply trick like that," Sasuke snorted.

"Sasuke-kun is right, Naruto," Sakura agreed.

Then, a hand emerged at the open door. Pulling the door aside, someone appeared. A man wearing a mask, with his forehead protector covering his left eye. Sasuke and Sakura recognized this man. This was the same man that helped them during the night of the Uchiha Massacre. However, their surprise was broken, when the chalkboard eraser that Naruto set up fell on the man's head. A small cloud of chalkdust emerged upon impact.

Naruto quickly burst into laughter upon seeing the success of his prank. "I can't believe you actually fell for it!!" Naruto laughed in triumph.

"I'm so sorry, Sensei," Sakura quickly apologized, "I tried to warn him, but he wasn't listening." BULLSEYE!!

Sasuke looked at the jonin, and expressed signs of disappointment behind his folded hands. You've got to be kidding me...

The man picked up the chalkboard eraser and looked at it for a while. After a moment, the man set it aside. "Let's see...how can I put this..." Kakashi pondered, "My first impression is...you guys suck."

Naruto and Sakura could only frown upon hearing their judgment coming from their assigned jonin instructor.

Hatake Kakashi was well-known for being the top jonin of Konoha. He was a former ANBU member and achieved the highest accomplishments during his missions, earning him quite a reputation around the ninja world.

Kakashi met up with his assigned Team 7 to a rooftop, where they could see a perfect view of the Hokage Monuments.

"Where do we begin? Why don't we introduce ourselves?" offered Kakashi.

"Introduce ourselves?" wondered Sakura, "What should we say?"

"Your likes, your dislikes, your hobbies, etc." Kakashi simply answered, "Simple as that."

"Hey, hey, why don't you introduce yourself first?" asked Naruto.

"Me?" Kakashi pointed to himself, "Well, let's see...My name is Hatake Kakashi. I'd rather not tell you my likes and dislikes. Not much about dreams... And I have a few hobbies..."

"All he told us was his name," Sakura whispered to Naruto, causing Naruto to shake his head in disapproval, because of that fact.

"All right, now it's your turn," said Kakashi.

Naruto jumped to the chance first. Sasuke and Sakura knew that he was eager to express his dreams, and to make himself well-known, like all the other high-ranking shinobis. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like the cup of ramen. But I prefer the ramen at Ichiraku Ramen that Iruka-sensei treats me to the most. I dislike three-minute ramen that I have to wait for when you put hot water in it. My hobby is eating ramen and comparing them! And my dream is to become the greatest Hokage Konoha has ever seen! If I accomplish that, I'll make the entire village recognize my existance!"

Kakashi stared at Naruto, after the hyper genin introduced himself. He grew up in an...interesting way... "Okay, how about you?" Kakashi prompted Sakura.

Sakura straightened herself up as Kakashi eyed her. Sakura first cleared her throat before she began her introduction. "Well, my name is Haruno Sakura," she began, "I like..." Sakura hesitated at first when she looked at Sasuke. "......I...uh...I like...my friends... My hobbies are spending time with them, and my dream is...well...that's kind of undecided right now..." Sakrua finished.

"Then, what about your dislike?" asked Kakashi.

"Um...well...uh...Naruto?" Sakura shrugged. Naruto was shocked upon hearing his name as Sakura's dislike. However, what he didn't notice was that Sakura didn't dislike him at all. Sorry, Naruto. I ran out of ideas...

Kakashi stared at Sakura, after the pink-haired genin introduced herself. Well, not exactly tough-looking, but at least there's one "normal" person. "And last, you," Kakashi prompted Sasuke.

Sakura and Naruto turned their heads towards the cold-hearted Uchiha, who continued to hold his position of having his hands folded togther in front of him. "Uchiha Sasuke," Sasuke simply answered, "There are many things that I hate, and there is hardly anything that I like. ......And I have a desire...an ambition that will never be a dream, but a reality. The resurrection of my clan......and to kill......a certain man..."

All three of them stared at Sasuke in completely silence. Naruto felt uneasy about Sasuke's scary version of a dream. I hope I'm not the "certain man" he's talking about...

Sakura obviously knew of Sasuke's "dream." Sakura was still troubled about Sasuke's desire for revenge. Oh, Sasuke-kun...

Kakashi was informed of Sasuke's changed personality. He also knew of who was responsible for the destruction of the Uchiha Clan. But Kakashi narrowed his eyes as he heard Sasuke's full introduction. It's just as I thought... Afterwards, Kakashi's eyes returned to their normal expression. "All right, you all have unique characterstics," said Kakashi, "I like that. So tomorrow, we're going to begin our first mission."

Naruto was immediately excited to get things underway. He was one step closer to fulfilling his dream of being the greatest of the Hokages. "Yes sir!" Naruto exclaimed in joy, saluting Kakashi, "What kind of mission are we going to do!?"

"Well, for starters, we're going to do something that the four of us can do," explained Kakashi.

"What, what, what, what!?" asked the eager Naruto, "Come on, tell us already!"

"Tomorrow, we're doing a survival training," announced Kakashi.

Sasuke could only snort to himself upon the announcement. More useless work...

"Survival training?" asked the confused Naruto.

"Why are we doing a survival training if it's a mission?" asked Sakura, "We've had plenty of training back in the Academy."

"Perhaps. But this is not just any training," said Kakashi.

"Well, then what kind of training is this?" asked Naruto.

Kakashi chuckled to himself, as he knew full-well what kind of training exercise he was going to put these three in. Sasuke narrowed his eyes in suspicion, while Sakura and Naruto suddenly felt a little bit of fear in their hearts. What kind of unordinary training did Kakashi have in mind?

"Well, if I tell you, you might be surprised about it," Kakashi shrugged. Kakashi's face suddenly turned serious and more dark-toned. "Out of all the 27 people who graduated the Academy, only nine of them will be officially ordained genins, while the other 18 will be sent back for reeducation. To put is simply, this is a very difficult test, and chances of being a complete failure is 66%."

Naruto and Sakura were completely shocked by what kind of rule this test will have. They were completely worried about their chances of passing. And this jonin looked very serious. Sasuke, however, didn't look shocked or surprised.

"You see?" Kakashi pointed to Naruto and Sakura, "I told you you'd be surprised, right?"

"That's bull!" Naruto protested, "I went through all the trouble back in the Academy! You can't be saying that I took the final exam for nothing!"

"Oh, that? That's just tells us who is qualified to become a genin," explained Kakashi.

"What!?" yelled the outraged Naruto.

"Well, tomorrow, I'll determine whether you pass or fail on the training grounds," declared Kakashi, "Bring your equipment with you and meet at the training grounds at 5 AM!" The newly formed Team 7 got up from their seats and turned to leave, only to be stopped by Kakashi's further announcements. "Oh, and one more thing: don't eat breakfast......or you'll throw up..."

In the middle of the afternoon, Team 7 walked through the streets of Konoha, with nothing but the training mission in mind. Sasuke still kept his cold-hearted attitude and walked on with his hands in his pocket. Unknown to his teammates, Sasuke's hands were clenched into a tight fist.

So that's how it's going to be, huh? ...Fine, if that's that it takes, then I'll play your little games, Kakashi...for now...

"Man, I'm starting to hate that guy," said the frustrated Naruto, "What kind of a jonin makes up a test like that!?"

"Tell me about it," sighed Sakura, "I can't believe he's telling us to skip breakfast. And here I thought breakfast was the most important meal of the day."

"I'd better eat something heavy before tomorrow," said Naruto, "Hey, you guys, what do you say we go to Ichiraku Ramen tonight? My treat!"

"That sounds good, Naruto," Sakura smiled, "I could sure go for one right now. Sasuke-kun, what about you? Do you want to join us?"

"No," Sasuke simply answered as he continued to walk in his own direction. Sasuke paid no attention to his own teammates. Sakura could only frown as Sasuke brushed off Sakura's friendly offer.

Seeing Sakura frown only irritated Naruto, however. "Hey, Sasuke!" Naruto called out, "What's your problem!? Sakura-chan just offered you a free meal and you're just going to brush her off like that? What kind of a man are you!?"

"The type who is not loud and doesn't eat ramen 24 hours a day," replied the cold-hearted Sasuke. Sasuke still continued his pace, not even stopping.

"What was that, you bastard!?" Naruto was about to run up to Sasuke to beat the living daylights out of him. However, Sakura was quick enough to restrain Naruto before he could cause more trouble over something trivial.

"Calm down, Naruto," scolded Sakura, "Just let it go."

"Jeez, what is up with that guy? You'd think his mother treated him right..." complained Naruto.

Sakura's mind clicked upon hearing Naruto's comment. Naruto wouldn't understand Sasuke's feelings right now, especially when Naruto mentioned his mother. Now that Naruto mentioned it, what would Mikoto have done, to keep Sasuke from being driven by revenge. Sakura predicted that things would have been different. Sure, most of his family would be gone, but with his mother around, maybe Sasuke won't be as cold-hearted as he is today. But that will never happen anymore. Without Mikoto's guidance, Sakura could only wonder what will happen to Sasuke and his future.

"Well, how about that meal, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked eagerly, "We'd better hurry before we miss our chance and our training gets sloppy."

"Yeah, let's go," Sakura responded after snapping out of her thoughts.

Naruto and Sakura made their way to the Ichiraku Ramen. Upon entering the restaurant, Naruto and Sakura were surprised to see the rest of their newly graduated classmates there as well, Team 8 and Team 10.

"Hey, Sakura! Fancy meeting you here!" Ino greeted her friend.

"Hi, Ino," Sakura smiled, "How's everything with your new team?" Sakura asked as she took a seat next to Naruto and next to Ino.

Ino looked back to see that Shikamaru and Chouji were just eating their meals and talking to Shino and Kiba. Ino then silently invited Sakura to move closer. "Honestly, I wish I had a different team," Ino whispered.

"What's wrong with Shikamaru and Chouji?" Sakura whispered back.

"One: Shikamaru is so lazy and always complaining. Two: I always hear Chouji snacking. Three: Asuma-sensei smokes too much," replied Ino, "I'd rather have you and Naruto on my team. I'd even take Shino and Kiba, even though I think Shino is too freaky..."

"Ino..." Shino spoke up, not moving from his spot, startling Ino and Sakura, "You shouldn't whisper behind people's backs. Why? Because that's considered rude, even amongst strangers."

Ino and Sakura couldn't help but comment to themselves about Shino's mysteriously weird behavior. None of the Rookie Nine members could understand Shino's emotions. Not even his own teammates.

"By the way, Hinata-chan, how's everything with your team?" asked Sakura.

"Well, everything is going great," responded Hinata, "We're getting along just fine. And Kurenai-sensei may be strict, but she's very caring."

"How about you, Sakura? How's everything with your team?" asked the curious Ino.

"The team isn't so bad. Though I'm not so sure about our sensei," said Sakura.

"Who is your sensei?" asked Ino.

"Kakashi-sensei," replied Sakura.

"Oh, I've heard of him!" Ino spoke up, "They say he's the best jonin in Konoha."

"The best!?" exclaimed Naruto, "Please, that guy actually fell for a simple prank I pulled off earlier. You should have seen. You would have been cracking up by now!"

"You actually got Kakashi-sensei with a prank?" Kiba asked in disbelief, "Man, I think your jonin instructor sucks."

"Never underestimate the first impression of your jonin instructor," said Shino, "Why? Because you'll regret it later."

"Shino-kun is right," Hinata replied, "You probably just caught him off-guard, Naruto-kun."

"Well, either way, he had it coming," Naruto grinned.

"Whew! That's a lot of orders coming from you kids!" the owner of the Ichiraku Ramen exclaimed, "Is there some kind of occasion or something?"

"You got it, old man!" exclaimed the joyful Naruto, "We're just celebrating our first days as genins!"

"Oh!? So you children are those Rookie Nines I've heard about, eh?" the owner smiled, "But wait a minute. There's only eight of you. Where's the last one?"

"Probably somewhere that I'd rather be," sighed the lazy Shikamaru.

"Oh well, his loss," the owner shrugged, "Anyways, here you go! Eight orders of today's special ramen! Enjoy, kids!"

"Itadakimasu!(sp?)" the rookies cheered as they received their food. Without hesitation, all of the rookies began eating their ramen.

The afternoon soon gave way to the early sunset. Sasuke was in his apartment, merely eating the rice balls that he ordered. Thanks to the inheritance he received from his late family, Sasuke was able to afford a high quality apartment. As Sasuke continued to eat, he stared out at the setting sun, deep in his thoughts. Itachi...where are you... While Sasuke was deep in his thoughts, Sasuke couldn't help but remember his time with the hokage, concerning the issue about Itachi's whereabouts.

In the Hokage's office, a seven-year-old Sasuke confronted the Hokage about the issue concerning his older brother, who was still at large after the death of his entire clan.

"What do you mean you can't find him!?" Sasuke demanded.

"We've lost traces of him after the incident," explained Sarutobi, "You know as well as I do he was also one of the members of ANBU. ANBU were trained not to leave any clues to their whereabouts after a mission. Not even the Inuzuka Clan, Aburame Clan, nor the Hyuuga Clan can find any traces of him, and they're our best trackers in Konoha." This explanation did not help ease Sasuke's anger. "Sasuke-kun, I know you're still angry about what happened to your family, but you mustn't be driven by revenge. I've seen it in countless shinobi. Many of them lost their friends, lovers, even their families. They sought revenge, only to realize one thing, at the last minute. Revenge makes the avenger completely empty. Once you have your revenge, then what? You'll have nothing in the end, Sasuke-kun. Revenge does not bring happiness, but it doesn't bring justice either. Vengeance will only bring pain."

Sasuke turned his back to the Hokage and began storming out. Upon opening the door, Sasuke stopped before he walked out of the office. "You said vengeance will only bring pain," Sasuke recalled, "You don't get it, Sarutobi. I'm already in pain. Maybe revenge is all that I have. I have nothing. If none of you will kill Itachi, then I'll do it myself." With that said, Sasuke walked out of the office and slammed the door, leaving the Hokage to sigh and shake his head in disappointment.

Remembering the conversation he had with the Hokage caused Sasuke to crush his rice ball in his hand in anger. He didn't care what kind of wisdom Sarutobi was trying to give him. Sasuke was positive on what he said to the Hokage. Revenge is all that he has left, nothing more, nothing less. Itachi...I will find you...and make you pay. I'll find power, and I'll obtain that power, even if I must sell my soul to the devil. And then, I'll watch you suffer for your crimes. I swear it.

To be continued...